McHenry County Cross Country Meet: Woodstock’s Ishan Patel and McHenry’s Danielle Jensen win individual titles

WOODSTOCK – There was no doubt who was going to win the boys race at the McHenry County Cross Country Meet once it started.

Woodstock senior Ishan Patel jumped out in front right away and continued to build on his lead throughout the race, winning in 15:53.9 Saturday at Emricson Park.

“I felt very in control. All my training has been paying off,” Patel said. “This summer, I told myself I need to get myself together and attack it. This is my home course, I know it best. I got in this race today and said I was going to take over. I felt very strong, relaxed, that’s all that was going through my mind, just in control.”

Patel, last year’s Kishwaukee River Conference champion, beat Huntley’s Tommy Nitz, last season’s Fox Valley Conference champion by 18 seconds. Nitz finished second in 16:11.8, followed by Woodstock’s Aryan Patel (16:17.9), Prairie Ridge’s Will Gelon (16:21.6) and Huntley’s Zach Zuzzio (16:23.3).

McHenry’s Danielle Jensen won the girls race in 18:54.3, well ahead of teammate Skyler Balzer (19:42.6) in second. Huntley’s Haley Rahman (19:49.3), Crystal Lake Central’s Brynn Matthaei (19:54.2) and Crystal Lake South’s Abby Machesky (19:57.4) rounded out the the top five.

While no team scores are kept, Woodstock would have had 45 to win the boys title, one point ahead of Prairie Ridge. Huntley would have won the girls with 34 and Crystal Lake South (46) would have been second.

Ishan Patel was determined to finish better than his fourth from last season. Nitz was runner-up in the race for a second straight year.

“Tommy’s a great athlete. Last year he passed me in the bowl part (last 800 meters),” Patel said. “I was fueled by last year, I wanted to get a higher spot. I wanted to win. These guys are great runners, but I wanted to do everything in my power to beat them.”

Nitz said he was not really happy with his race.

“Ishan had a great race, though, I have to give it to him. I’ll be back,” NItz said. “From the start, he went wire-to-wire. He took the lead and nobody caught him. On the hills, that’s where he got me. He accelerated on the hills. I just kind of stayed back and he kept building distance.”

Aryan Patel, Ishan’s twin, caught Gelon and Zuzzio in the last 800 meters to grab third.

“It was wonderful. The whole time throughout summer running I had a lot of goals in my mind,” Aryan Patel said. “Last season wasn’t exactly the best. I wanted to make a good mark early in the season.

“It was hurting, I will not lie. But coming to last 400 meters I had to make a move. My goal was to get top seven. It worked out very well.”

Jensen had a strong summer of training after coming off a junior year in which she was a Class 3A All-State in cross country. Balzer was behind her in the first half of the race before Jensen added some distance.

Crystal Lake Central’s Hadley Ferrero, one of the girls favorites, did not run. Tigers coach Brett Willhoit said she has an injury and will miss a few races.

“It was crazy. I expected to have some people by me,” Jensen said. “I just kept pushing and had my teammates behind me. I was doing it for my team.

“My coach (Kevin Horst) told me to go in the front and try to lead the race. You never know what you’re going to get. There’s a lot of talent, you never know who’s coming in.”

Balzer was not expecting to get second place.

“Not at all. I just kept pushing through and tried to stay strong,” she said. “Seeing Danielle in front of me helped me stay strong. We’ve been running together. It was really great to be by her in the race.”

Huntley graduated three girls – Breanna and Brittney Burak and Mollie Allen – who had been integral parts of the team for four years. But Rahman and the Red Raiders showed they may be ready to come back and repeat as FVC champs.

“It was a lot of fun and a great experience,” Rahman said. “I was just trying to come in and run my best. I was happy, but the team also did so well. I’m happy with how everybody did. I’m very proud of our team.”

McHenry County Meet

Boys Varsity Race

(No team scores kept)

Top 20 individuals: 1. Ishan Patel (Wdk) 15:53.9, 2. Tommy Nitz (Hunt) 16:11.8, 3. Aryan Patel (Wdk) 16:17.9, 4. Will Gelon (PR) 16:21.6, 5. Evan Gilleland (PR) 16:36.5, 7. Gerrit Dam )(PR) 16;37.5, 8. Nick Schmitz (McH) 16:48.0, 9. Jameson Tenopir (CG) 16:53.3, 10. Aiden Shulfer (CLC) 16:58.6, 11. Kevin DeGroot (PR) 17:01.0, 12. Ellery Shutt (Wdk) 17:06.1, 13. Jakob Crown (Wdk) 17:07.0, 14. Nate Peyer (CLC) 17:14.4, 15. Ethan Waddell (CG) 17:20.6, 16. Cohen Shutt (Wdk) 17:25.9, 17. Joey Gonzalez (CLS) 17:28.9, 18. Daniel Cardenas (PR) 17:31.0, 19. Charlie Baker (Wdk) 17:31.3, 20. Brandon Thompson (Hunt) 17:37.5.

Girls Varsity Race

(No team scores kept)

Top 20 individuals: 1. Danielle Jensen (McH) 18:54.3, 2. Skyler Balzer (McH) 19:42.6, 3. Haley Rahman (Hunt) 19:49.3, 4. Bryn Matthaei (CLC) 19:54.2, 5. Abby Machesky (CLS) 19:57.4, 6. Ava Allison (Hunt0 19:59.1, 7. Olivia Pinta (CLS) 20:24.5, 8. Morgan Sauber (Hunt) 20:31.8, 9. Corinne Kilvinger (Hunt) 20:41.7, 10. Colette Bacidore (CLS) 20:44.2, 11. Victoria Pinta (CLS) 21:04.8, 12. Alexia Spatz (RB) 21:19.7, 13. Aspen Maldonado (HUnt) 21:24.5, 14. Mackenzie Billard (Hunt) 21:33.7, 15. Kate Aniolkowski (CG) 22:02.9, 16. Emma Macke (CLC) 22:05.9, 17. Ava Berardi (Hunt) 22:09.4, 18. Savannah Wells (RB) 22:24.8, 19. Hope Ferrero (CLC) 22:26.7, 20. Lauren Blake (McH) 22:27.5.